Feiglin to leave Likud?
Disgusted by the results of last week's referendum, and calling the party undemocratic, Moshe Feiglin is contemplating leaving the Likud according to a report in the Jerusalem Post. The Makor Rishon Hebrew-language daily reported on Friday that people within the Jewish Leadership faction were calling on Feiglin to take the movement, which was demonized by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu prior to the internal vote, out of the Likud.I'd be disappointed to see Feiglin leave the Likud. Over the past 15 months since I met him, I've been sold on the idea that the only way to effect change (as opposed to being a power broker) is through one of the big parties. If Feiglin moves to Jewish Home - and maybe even if he moves to National Union - I believe he's going to lose a lot of the secular voters who support him in the Likud. And I believe that it will make it less likely that Feiglin or someone of his ideological makeup will be able to push the Likud in a more nationalistic direction.
Feiglin supporters said over the weekend that the Jewish Leadership movement is entering a period of internal discussion, during which Feiglin and his supporters will determine whether the movement’s future is in the governing party, or perhaps would be better directed within another party. Both religious-leaning right-wing parties – the National Union and Habayit Hayehudi – were mentioned as potential directions for the faction, as was the possibility of a union of the three to form a national-religious front.
In addition, a number of Likud members who participate in Feiglin’s movement are being recruited by MKs and party officials to remain in Likud’s ranks without Feiglin as their leader.
Jewish Leadership activists complained that Netanayhu’s hold on the Likud had made the party difficult for those who opposed him. Netanyahu repeatedly attacked Feiglin’s faction during the run-up to the internal party vote 10 days ago. Netanyahu labeled Feiglin’s movement as “a marginal and extremist group” in his successful effort to mobilize some 2,500 Likud central committee members to come to the polls. The specter of Feiglin seemed to serve Netanyahu’s intended purpose – more than 80 percent of central committee members voted, and 76% of them supported Netanyahu’s position.
Feiglin is expected to hold the first of a number of meetings with his well-mobilized activists on Sunday, to begin to assess the movement’s future.
Jewish Leadership has already weathered two such crises of faith with the Likud in the past decade. In 2006, the movement considered taking steps following the collapse of the Likud in the parliamentary elections, and it did so again in 2009 after Netanyahu placed Feiglin and his supporters in unrealistic placements on the party’s Knesset candidates list.
Of course, the fact that the Likud has not held elections for its central committee in eight years (and just won a postponement for two more years) is beyond absurd. The central committee runs the party - the only thing it does not do is choose candidates for the Knesset, which is where Feiglin excelled the last time around. Can the central committee be forced to behave democratically? In this country, maybe. But Feiglin doesn't like using the courts (he declined to do so when Netanyahu pushed him down the Knesset list in 2009).
The bottom line is that if Feiglin leaves the Likud, he hands Netanyahu a victory that Netanyahu doesn't deserve.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:16 PM
5 Comments:
Agreed. Abandoning the Likud would signal national religious Jews are not really serious about changing the party and the country and they will condemned to join the lunatics in National Union and the Jewish Home to continued political irrelevance. Sure - a battle has been lost. But there is a war to be won, people to be persuaded, a recruiting drive to be organized, new voters to be signed up. Feiglin must not abandon the Likud to Netanyahu. If he really has principles, now more than ever is the time to fight for them. One must never give up in matters large or small, for any reason - the only thing that matters is victory. Winston Churchill left us all with that sage advice and here is hoping Feiglin has the guts to follow it.
"condemned to join the lunatics...." nice! Was always suspicious about you, now you have cemented it up.
Feiglin is all about Feiglin. I confronted their web page a couple of years ago with their policies that they advertised. When confronted they immediatly denied that is what Feiglin stood for. BS!! He has turned out to be a typical politician with hidden agenda's. They may not be a sinister as those fake right wingers in Likud, but still, he's a politician. We need Emet in Israel. Problem is no one can handle that.
They have too many fake right wingers in Israel's, that's true. But abandoning it to them will not move Israel in the direction in which it needs to be moved. And we both know that while the National Union and Jewish Home advocate policies I happen to agree with, the fact remains they are NOT going to win an Israeli election in the near to medium term future. That is why I say they're delusional about Israeli politics even though my views are close to theirs. Like it or not, the only real game in town in Israel is the Likud and giving up on it is tantamount to allowing those "fake right wingers" to win by default.
That's simply not an option - and I don't see any other realistic avenue that national religious Jews have today. Sitting in the opposition cannot be the answer.
Shiloh is a bald faced liar.
BTW, are you the same Shiloh that's a Jesus freak? Fess up, don't be shy.
Manhigut Yehudit is NOT leaving the Likud at this time.
Source (Hebrew)
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